"The Beast" takes on 50 Fighters in SFIV:AE Kumite Match

TLDR;

Daigo Umehara took on 42 - supposed to be 50, but some didn't participate for several reasons - challengers in Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition and won 41:1. He lost against American player iPeru (playing as El Fuerte) but got his revenge in an exhibition match held after the Kumite matches were over. Scroll to the bottom for the stream.

It certainly is one busy time for gaming fans in Japan. Just when you thought things would settle down after TGS 2011 wrapped up last week, the annual Tougeki Tournament (also known as SBO) kicks off. And, as if that wasn't enough, legendary pro gamer Daigo Umehara held a Super Street Fighter 4 Arcade Edition 50 Person Kumite event (meaning he will fight 50 opponents in a row) at Taito Station in Shinjuku last Monday. Daigo is of course best known for his phenomenal victory against Justin Wong at EVO 2004, where he parried 15 hits in a row with one pixel of his life bar left and then proceeded to finish off his opponent with a combo of his own. So, how did he fare this time?

I'm losing just looking at the guy.

The 42 players (cut from 50 due to time constraints; also, there were some players who declined to fight after witnessing Daigo's skill) who dared to challenge "The Beast" were a mixed bunch, ranging from beginners to members of the Top 50 of the BP Rankings, several who had achieved the title of Ultimate Master. There were also 3 American representatives ready to kick some ass: Hsien Chang (Yun), iPeru (El Fuerte) and Banana Ken (Ken). 801 Strider (Makoto) was originally also supposed to participate, but had to be replaced by special guest Kazunoko, reigning champion of this year's SBO. There were quite a few exciting moments during the 50 battles of the Kumite. Highlights include Daigo worming his way through his opponent's Sonic Boom defenses (in his fight against Momome playing as Guile) and his magnificent handling of Seth's flurry of Spinning Piledrivers and Shoryukens dished out by GYOA. Things were going well, until iPeru's El Fuerte decided to teach Daigo a lesson. This however would be the only defeat he'd had to suffer this evening: The Beast came out of the Kumite with an impressive score of 41:1.

I could do that but I don't want to. (No, I really couldn't.)

After the Kumite matches wrapped up, a few exhibition matches were held. As expected from such high-profile players, they were quite awesome. Daigo fought and won against Banana Ken (Ken), avoiding his Shoryukens by altering his own trajectory with Raigeku Shuus. He also managed to get his revenge on iPeru after a couple of pretty intense fights and beat Hsien Chang in a confusing match of Yun vs. Yun (which was definitely not helped by the crappy quality of the video stream). Afterwards he fought (and won) against Japanese player Nemo and waged an epic battle against special guest Kazunoko, which he also won by a hair.

Fun was had by all and Daigo once again demonstrated that he is certainly worthy of the nickname The Beast.

g1 Discussions

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If you are talking about the beat-down he received from PoonKO, they DID rematch and Daigo won god knows how many matches. I can't find the results right now. Yes, Daigo's human. Yes, people worship him like he's untouchable, but he's not picking on people. They stepped up to fight him. I'd jump on it if I had the opportunity to fight the Beast, regardless of the huge gap in skill.

I think someone needs to feel important again after getting his ass handed to him at Evo this year. Dont get me wrong, I have nothing but the highest respect for Daigo Umehara, but once in a while it's nice to know he's still human after all. This beatdown of his just reminds me of a bully who gets beat down in a fight, so hes goes and picks on the little kids to make himself feel better.

Profile, right. Let's see...I've been a news editor at Screwattack for several months now, but recently had to take a break to earn my Bachelors degree in Japanese Linguistics. Since I live about 8000km away from the HQ most people don't even know I exist...but with these new features on SA, that's about to change. Maybe.

Apart from games, I collect movies and like to study languages in my spare time. I also have my own website, Oh!Sat, where I publish my own gaming-themed webcomic whenever I have the time.